The Magnificent Seven
by Blitz Babe
Summary: Someone's after the FF8 gang's kids! But, when they kidnap these seven aspiring SeeD's, did they mess with the wrong people? (Parents: Sq/R, Qu/Sei, Z/?, Sel/I, Fu/Rai.)


Hello there dear readers! Well, this is my first FF8 fic, so I hope it goes over well. It's a sort of a next-generation-of-SeeD's thing, but I hope it's not tacky. Plus the original chars will be in the fic, a big role to play too, though not in this chapter. Well, I've talked enough. Go, read, be happy.  
  
  
  
  
  
Aiden Squall Leonhart was a thirteen-year-old of his word. And we he promised to treat all of his friends to lunch if they're parents left for a week. Well, then, he'd just have to do it. Of course the odds against that happening were pretty low. After all, never before had every single one of the Garden's finest gone out on a mission, no matter how important. Even when it was massively urgent Rinoa would still take care of them, or even Fujin or Raijin. The didn't all leave.  
  
There's a first time for everything.  
  
Aiden sighed as he sat in the Garden's cafeteria, wallet empty, concern written all over his face. His father had told him before he left that Esthar had asked for help. Esthar, where his Grandfather governed. He had never even been there! But Squall had seemed concerned, not something he was prone to showing, so his son did not pry. Even when he took everyone with him. Well, all the best, anyway. Zell, Seifer, Quistis, Irvine, Selphie, Rinoa, Fujin, Raijin, and a few other random SeeD's as back-up. Xu was watching them for godsake! It was madness! Idly Aiden fingered the chain he wore around his neck. His mother had given it to him a year ago, on his thirteenth birthday, as a coming-of-age gift. She said it was the symbol of her and his father's love, but that she didn't need it anymore, because she had him. He and it meant the same thing. His thumb ran along the smooth pair of rings. One, his father's. The other, his mother's. He looked a lot like his father then. The only real difference was the hair. One-hundred percent his mother's, framing his face in a dark wave of rich ebony. Like all his friends he dressed in the Garden's uniform.  
  
Suddenly a pair of fingers snapping in his face brought him out of his reverie. Aiden raised an eyebrow at Seifer Almassy II, or 'Safe'. Unlike their father the two boys got along quite nicely, even if they did get on each other's nerves a lot. At least they'd never intentionally marred each other's faces. "Hey, hello, you awake Aiden?" Safe asked. From behind him his younger sister snorted. The pair were technically twins, but you would never tell from looking at them.  
  
"Of course he's awake, his eyes were open. Really." She huffed. Both thirteen-year-olds had short, rich blonde hair, and strikingly deep eyes. But that's where the resemblance to Seifer stopped, and the resemblance to their mother, Quistis, began. Neither had a need for glasses, but both possessed her softer features and more fluid build. Safe wore his hair a bit longer than his sister, a hand rested on the gunblade he'd owned since he was six, and a smirk built in to his features. His sister, Edea or 'Eddie', had a haircut almost identical to her father's. But in personality there was no doubt she was Quistis' daughter. Her knowledge of facts was unrivalled, and she had a tendency to wear a silver whistle around her neck, which she blew whenever she wanted attention. Aiden knew first hand that the only person she could never really phase was her own brother.  
  
"I was just wondering why they all left." The son of Squall admitted casually as the twins sat down. Safe shrugged.  
  
"Who cares? Maybe they finally realised we don't need to be babysat anymore. I think you're just pissed off that you actually had to buy us all lunch." He said evenly. Aiden was about to argue when all of a sudden something wet, slimy, and thick splashed against the back of his neck. There was a quiet pause. Slowly, steadily, the intimidating youth turned around to face his assailant. Marin Dincht knelt sheepishly on the floor, face bright red, tray on the ground. A recently emptied milk-carton was on the ground near Aiden's chair, and a small patch of water was on the ground by her booted feet. Her long dirty-blonde hair fell around her face in disarray, highlighted with the occasional touch of silver hair-dye, and a tattoo identical to her father's traced up along her cheek. Her deep brown eyes were foggy with worry and embarrassment. "A-Aiden! O-oh n-no!" She stuttered out, horrified. There was a pause. Then, able to take it no more, the twins both burst into laughter. Safe with a great deal of boisterous sound, and Eddie with a guilty chuckle. Aiden raised a hand to brush some of the milk off the back of his head as Mari collected her scattered lunch.  
  
'Why is she always so clumsy and awkward?' He wondered angrily as he stomped off towards the bathroom, not even seeing her hand as she offered him help. Once Aiden was gone Mari bit her lip in shame. Then she shot a murderous glare at the twins.  
  
"Oh, shut up you two! Or I'll do a lot worse than spraying you with milk, you hear?!?" She shouted. That got them. Safe shut his trap and Eddie stopped her giggles. The older twin shrugged.  
  
"Come on Mari, it's just so funny! You're never a bigger clutz than when he's around, and you never stutter, either." Safe said. "Why don't you just tell him you like him and get it over with?" He asked. With a sigh Mari took a seat, plunking her mangled lunch before her.  
  
"I might, if I could form a coherent sentence around him. DAMMIT! It's not fair!" She said, throwing a fist upwards. Her mother, who had been part of the library committee in her school days, did not approve of her and her father's occasional loud outbursts. Then again, it was better than when they broke stuff, so as long as they didn't do it in the library she kept quiet about it.  
  
"You moping about Aiden again?" Beau Edea Kinneas asked as she returned from her own place in the lunch line-up. Almost as tall as her father, the striking brunette towered above her other friends. Her short brown hair fell loosely around her face, which was round and happy like Selphie's. Not entirely keeping with the Garden's dress codes, Beau also wore her father's infamous cowboy hat. But nobody minded. And if they did, she was often sure to change that with a grin and a 'pat' on the shoulder. Next to her stood the final, and youngest, member of the group of seven. Fujin and Raijin's son, Rujin. Ru shook his head, sending locks of grey hair flying around her tanned face.  
  
"STUPID." He said simply. Unfortunately, Ru had inherited his mother's speech impediment. Mari glared at the two as they took their seats.  
  
"Oh, what would you know? Like you've ever been in love." She said in annoyance. Beau shook her head, tipping her hat back and smiling her father's smile.  
  
"You're helpless, you know that? Men are all the same. Deep down, they're idiots." She said contentedly. Safe and Ru, being the only males currently at the table, bristled. Beau ignored them and continued. "They can never tell if a girl likes them. Or, if they can, then they go and do something even more stupid and screw it all up. You gotta trap a guy into a relationship." She explained, lifting an apple off her tray and taking a bite. "At least, that's what my Mom says." Beau added, as if this one thing made it all true.  
  
"Men are not idiots!" Safe argued. Ru nodded.  
  
"YOU IDIOT!" He added for emphasis. Beau rolled her eyes while Eddie and Mari watched the scene with mild amusement.  
  
"First off, like shouting that in my ear is going to help change my opinion, Ru. Second off, I meant in relationships." She said. Reluctantly the two backed down, thought they still had daggers in their eyes.  
  
"Oh, shut up, he's coming back!" Mari said as she watched Aiden return from his trip to the bathroom. (A/N: Has anyone else noticed that Garden has NONE of these?). Safe shrugged.  
  
"Good. Maybe I'll tell him you like him and end this now." He said arrogantly. There was a collective glare from the women at the table, and Safe soon found himself being pelted with french-fries. Aiden raised an eyebrow speculatively as he sat back down. The females ceased their assault.  
  
"GOOD." Ru chimed, gesturing to his food. Mari tried not to make eye- contact with Aiden as she looked back down at her plate, cheeks bright red once more. Safe rolled his eyes but said nothing more. If they threw fries when he suggested telling, what would they through if he actually did? Visions of Beau pumping him full of bullets flew through his mind. Aiden shrugged and started in on his food, the back of his neck slightly damp but clean. Safe was halfway through his hot dog when he felt Eddie give him a sharp jab to his ribs. He was about to ask what that was for, when he caught a very intensely thoughtful look in her eyes.  
  
"Does anyone else hear that?" Eddie asked. Silence surrounded the table, as the group of seven listened above the lull of conversation in the cafeteria. Aiden blinked.  
  
"It sounds like something's whistling." He said as the shrill noise filled his perceptions. Then a shadow passed by one of the cafeteria windows, and a blast of pressure knocked the table sideways. A small cloud of smoke and fire engulfed the Garden's wall.  
  
"ATTACK!" Ru declared. In an instant the seven were on their feet, ready to fight. Safe blinked as something cylindrical and smooth clinked to the ground before his feet. Suddenly a thick cloud of grey gas filled the air, and in an instant, the youths lay unconscious upon the ground. By the time the Garden's remaining SeeD's reached the cafeteria, the seven were already gone.  
  
  
  
  
  
Hey everybody! Sorry, I know, not much of a beginning, and no original cast either. That happens next chapter. I just wanted to introduce the gets and get everything set. Well, please review, and thanks for reading! 


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